six weeks after a federal election that resulted in nothing substantive, the parliament once again is on the brink of collapse.

the reason is one that was entirely crafted by harper is a clever political ploy on which the opposition is taking a firm ground to the point they're in formal talks to form a coalition and dispose harper's conservatives from power. quebec's bloc was support the measure but have no real interest in a coalition that governs canada.

in a cost-cutting effort harper proposed scrapping the $1.95 per vote each of the parties get in elections. in the case of the liberals, this amounts to about 60% of their funds, nearly 80% of bloc's funding comes from this subsidy. yes, canada subsidizes a party whose ultimate objective is to break away from the federation. here's a knife, stab me with it. but i digress..

largely, the cost cutting measure is symbolic with minimal savings for the government. in total, the conservatives, liberals, ndp, bloc and greens receive $30 million from the subsidy. with some economists projecting canada's deficit could reach onwards $10 billion; this cut is fractional in the ability to balance the books. however, with the liberals struggling raising donations these days; this could potentially choke with party into oblivion.

to shift the debate, the opposition are focusing on a supposed economic stimulus that is weak and fails to capture the severity of canada's economic situation.

other aspects of the economic plan are equally symbolic; suspending the right of public service workers to strike for the next year is almost comical as any economist or historian would say the likelihood of a strike in a recession is next to none. people are concerned with keeping their jobs, let alone securing a raise. with the expection of york university, this is flat out not going to happen. but that institutional subscribes to ideas that have no relevance to common sense. again, i digress...

harper's strategy was pure tactical and the political craftsman is attempting to frame the matter as necessary in a time of fiscal uncertainty. in this situation we are also learning the true nature of mr. harper as a calculating tactician bent on crippling his political opponents.

with canadians worried about their jobs, investments and the general economic climate, harper thought parties should tighten their belts as well. his calculation was that the parties could not afford to come out against his economic plan which would make them appear out of touch with the average canadian. the parties would swallow their pride and essentially vote in favour cutting the bulk of their own dollars.

however, the opposition called harper out of the blatant attempt to suffocate the opposition and formal talks are ongoing as whether the liberals, bloc and ndp can form a coalition. harper now finds himself on a weekend communication blitz arguing the opposition cannot take power from the government without another election. in his words, the coalition is about installing a government and PM who does not have a mandate or right to rule.

a time of economic instability is now matched with a period of political instability. for junkies as myself the situation is almost edge of the seat excitement. the liberal/ndp coalition may also witness the return of stephane dion to the national stage as the 'prime minister.' kind of ironic if the liberals decide to work with the ndp given that they can barely work together.

in the last parliament, harper pulled several similar measures only to have the opposition back down or the liberals abstain. however, this time the high stakes brinkmanship crossed the line. several weeks ago, i spoke with a former conservative pollster for mike harris who predicted this is exactly what harper should do; propose a plan that goes beyond anything the liberals can support based on their values. here, rather than values, their very existence is at stake.

the unsupportable plan would collapse the parliament, force an election and harper would get the majority he so desires. the pollster even suggested the plan should be initiated before the christmas parliament break with a potential election in january. lot of the pieces have come together; except the election part. constitutional experts suggest the coalition opposition is the likely alternative given the fact we just had an election less than 2 months ago.

behind the smoke and mirrors, harper is using the recession as a scapegoat to push through policies that are akin to the 'hidden agenda' and the reason why canadians hesitate to give him the majority he so lusts for. harper rolled out a plan that has little to do with the economy other than attack the opposition and the public service as a whole. even looking beyond the party funding cut, the opposition are right in attacking the fluff policies of the conservatives.

there is nothing in the announcement related as to what the governments plans to do to address the economic crisis. the opposition parties are in every right to dispose a government that has no direction and is out of touch with the degree the recent downturn is affecting every canadian family.

harper, the brilliant politician, may have met his match and potentially could be the end of his political career. a miscalculation as the collapse of his government just a few weeks after its re-election does not bode well for his future. his only hope now is somehow revamping his economic package in a matter that actually means something forcing the opposition parties to back down. potentially, if the original statements had more substance beyond the cutting of party funding, the government would have secured the vote. but the fact the government wants to wait until the budget in the spring to roll out the bulk of the economic plan is bad a move of which liberals were quick to jump on.

no doubt next week will be interesting